The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is planning to set up an economics and finance studies centre in Kuwait to provide training to government employees in the region, the Fund has said.
IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky signed an agreement with Kuwaiti Minister of Finance of Kuwait Mustafa Al-Shamali to establish the IMF-Middle East Center for Economics and Finance (CEF) in the emirate, the Washington-based IMF said in a statement this week.
“The CEF, which will be inaugurated in May 2011, will play an important role in buildingcapacity for economic decision-making and policy implementation in all Arab League member countries,” it said.
“Training at the CEF will target government officials from Arab countries involved in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic and financial policies.”
The statement said courses and seminars at the CEF would cover macroeconomic adjustment policies and financial programming, public finance, trade and exchange rate policies, bank supervision, financial sectoral issues, the interaction between finance and acroeconomics, and statistics.
The centre will also invite other international and regional organisations to provide training at the CEF in their respective areas of expertise, thereby expanding the range of courses and seminars offered.
The centre, which is hosted and financed by the Kuwaiti authorities, will have an open membership architecture, allowing for joint sponsorship by other countries and institutions in the region, according to the IMF